This invention relates to compounds and pharmaceutical compositions useful for treating patients suffering from senility and useful for enhancing memory and in the treatment of induced amnesia. More particularly, this invention concerns hexahydro-3,5-dioxo-1H-pyrrolizine-2-carboxylic acid, its esters and pharmaceutically acceptable salts, pharmaceutical compositions including these compounds, and a method of treating senility, for enhancing memory or of reversing electroconvulsive shock-induced amnesia in humans.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,372,966 to Butler assigned to the present assignee discloses pharmaceutical compositions including dihydro-1H-pyrrolizine-3,5(2H,6H)dione as a cognition activator.
The S-enantiomer of the ethyl ester of hexahydro-3,5-dioxo-1H-pyrrolizione-2-carboxylic acid was prepared by Hardegger and Ott in 1955 in their elucidation of the configuration of several derivatives of cocaine and ecgoninic acid (E. Hardegger and H. Ott, Helv. 38:312 (1955)).